News Brief

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30th Annual Meeting of TrainRiders/Northeast

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Written by TRN WebmasterTRN Webmaster

Published: 25 November 201825 November 2018

On Friday, December 14th, TrainRiders/NE celebrated its 30th year of grassroots advocacy on behalf of passenger rail in the Northeast. Our pride and joy, the Amtrak Downeaster, marked its 17th year of serving Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Our Keynote Speaker was Eugene (Gene) Skoropowski, Senior Passenger Rail Consultant, TY Lin International, whose 40 years of railroading experience brought Florida's privately-funded passenger rail service to fruition. Gene congratulated TRNE's Wayne Davis for his dogged pursuit of passenger rail in the Northeast and congratulated NNEPRA's Patricia Quinn for being selected by Railway Age as one of railroading's leading women in 2018. It was also a time for leaders in the industry to catch up on important issues as witnessed by an earnest conversation between Gene and Maine DOT Commissioner David Bernhardt. Commissioner Bernhardt gave an impressive overview of Maine's expanding commitment to improving freight rail service in Northern Maine.

NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn provided us with the Downeaster's record-breaking numbers in Fiscal Year 2018. She mentioned her continued interest in expanding Downeaster service beyond Brunswick to Rockland and listed service to New York City as another opportunity under review. The NYC proposal was brought to the NNEPRA board by Wayne Davis. It's always a delight to see Patricia and her devoted staff celebrate the Downeaster's accomplishments.

We were honored to have Senator Angus King drop by our meeting. He and Representative Chellie Pingree (on video) congratulated Wayne Davis and Patricia Quinn on their extraordinarily successful partnership.

This year's video presentation examined three areas: the success of the Dome Car and its uncertain future; the various projects NNEPRA and PanAm are pursuing; and the unique Tax Rebate Program for senior volunteers at the Saco Train Station. This can be a template for the staffing of Amtrak stations in other small towns and cities.

Mariah Morales, of Amtrak's Government Affairs team, briefed us on Amtrak's relationships with coalitions, trade associations and advocacy groups.

PanAm Railways Vice President Cynthia Scarano commented on the excellent relationship between the freight railroad and NNEPRA.

In conclusion, Wayne noted that much had been accomplished, but more opportunities lie ahead.

NNEPRA Annual Meeting Celebrates FY2018

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Written by TRN WebmasterTRN Webmaster

Published: 30 October 201830 October 2018

The NNEPRA Annual Meeting was filled with the sweet smell of success.

New records were set in FY18 - Ridership (7.7% more than FY17) ticket revenue (18.9% more than FY17) and passenger miles (10.7% more than FY17).

Nine months of FY18 set new ridership records.

The Downeaster maintained one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the country in FY18 at 90%.

Kennebunk Cancels Planned Downeaster Stop!

KENNEBUNK -- The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to pull the plug on plans for an Amtrak Downeaster station that would have brought passenger rail service to downtown Kennebunk.

Four years after voters approved $300,000 for a seasonal train stop in town, the board voted unanimously Tuesday to officially halt the plans that appeared to be close to coming to fruition just a few weeks ago.

Board Chairman Dick Morin read a statement from the board saying, “As we narrowed the conversation regarding the details of the project with regard to things such as renting versus owning and space availability for parking and restrooms, it became more apparent that this location, with its significant limitations, presented a situation that would make us losers if it won, meaning if it was successful, and losers if the project failed at that location.”

NNEPRA Joins Other States to Keep the Dome Car Rolling

The bi-monthly Downeaster Operations Meeting was held on the Great Dome Car yesterday. It was an appropriate location after Amtrak announced plans to eliminate the very popular car from their fleet as of December 31st, 2018. The proposed "sunset" of the car was clearly on the minds of those who were interviewed.

NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn announced that a group of states, including Maine, have inquired of Amtrak as what it would cost to refurbish and keep the Dome car in service, rather than have it permanently taken out of service at the end of this year.

Come along for the ride and hear from those on board.

Trains Magazine Article Reported That Amtrak Would Halt Service on All Non-PTC Routes - That Included the Downeaster! Amtrak Issued a “Clarification”

An article in Trains Magazine set off a firestorm of conflicting statements and nationwide pushback after it stated that the Amtrak Board had decided not to run service on trackage that is not Positive Train Control equipped after December 31st of this year!

This would have eliminated Amtrak service on the Downeaster route and seven other essential Amtrak services.

TrainRiders/NE along with other grassroots passenger rail organizations joined with the Rail Passengers Association to demand clarification from Amtrak as the story contradicts Amtrak's previous position that risk assessments would be conducted to determine what adjustments might be needed on non-PTC trackage.

Trains Magazine has now received "clarification" from Amtrak top management:

"Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire, "where PTC is not implemented and operational, it is expected that nearly all carriers will qualify for an alternative PTC implementation schedule under law.

"For those carriers and routes operating under an extension or under an FRA-approved exemption, Amtrak is performing risk analyses and developing strategies for enhancing safety on a route-by-route basis to ensure that there is a single level of safety across the Amtrak network.

"For those very limited routes where a host may not achieve an alternative schedule by year’s end, Amtrak will suspend service and may seek alternative modes of service until such routes come into compliance."

NNEPRA and Amtrak have been conducting a risk assessment of the Downeaster route and, according to a knowledgeable source, preliminary results do not indicate any factors which would jeopardize the Downeaster Service.